The current situation of English language teaching in the light of CLT to the second-year students at Thai Nguyen College of Economics and Finance: a case study Nghiên cứu thực trạng dạy Tiếng anh theo đường hướng giao tiếp tại trường Cao đă ̉ ng Kinh tế-Tài chính Thái Nguyên : Nghiên cứu trường hợp điển hình Hà Lê Mai University of Languages and International Studies M.A. Thesis. English Teaching Methodology; Mã số: 60 14 10 Supervisor : M.A. Vũ Thị Thu Thủy Năm bảo vệ: 2012 Abstract. This minor thesis was conducted with an attempt to investigate the current situation of English language teaching in the light of CLT, especially in teaching speaking to the second year students’ non- English majors at Thai Nguyen College of Economics and Finance in 3 parts: First, the INTRODUCTION presents the rationale, aims and scope of the study, research questions, method and design of the study. The second part is DEVELOPMENT which is divided into 3 chapters: Chapter one, Literature Review, deals with the theories related to the study which is relevant to the purpose of the study. Chapter two, The Study, deals with date analysis of two questionnaires administered to teachers and students to find out their attitudes towards CLT and main difficulties in teaching speaking skills using CLT to freshmen and EFL teachers’ solutions to these problems. Chapter three, Findings and Recommendations, provides some information about the findings of the study. In this chapter, it emphasizes the implications of the study in which recommendations for the application of CLT approach are proposed. And the last part, part C, “CONCLUSION”, summarizes the key issues in the study, points out the limitations and provides some suggestions for further study. Keywords. Phương pháp giảng dạy; Tiếng Anh; Kỹ năng giao tiếp Content. TABLE OF CONTENTS PRELIMINARIES Page TITLE i APPROVAL SHEET ii DEDICATION iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv ABSTRACT v TABLE OF CONTENTS xi PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 1 Rationale of the study 1 2. Objectives of the study 3 3 Research questions 3 4 Scope of the study 3 5 Methodology 4 5.1 The objects 4 5.2 Instruments 4 5.3 The procedures 5 6 Significance of the Study 5 7 Organization of the study 6 PART B : DEVELOPMENT 7 CHAPTER 1 : LITERATURE REVIEW 7 1.1 Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) 7 1.1.1 Communicative Language Teaching Theories 7 1.1.2 Communicative Language Teaching Theories 7 1.1.3 Characteristics of CLT 8 1.1.4 Conclusion 8 1.2 Communicative language teaching and learning 9 1.2.1 Conditions related to CLT application 9 1.2.2 Roles of teachers and students in CLT Classroom 11 1.2.3 Issues in using CLT approach in the foreign language classroom 12 1.2.3.1 Benefits of using CLT approach in the foreign language classroom 12 1.2.3.2 Problems of applying CLT in the foreign language classrooms and in second language classroom. 13 1.2.3.3 Previous studies related to CLT application in Viet Nam 13 1.2.4 Previous studies related to CLT application in Viet Nam 13 CHAPTER 2 : THE STUDY 15 2.1 Background of the study 15 2.1.1 Description of the students at TCEF 15 2.1.2 Description of the teachers at TCEF 15 2.1.3 Settings of the study 15 2.2 Research methodology 16 2.2.1 Subjects 16 2.2.2 Survey instruments 17 2.2.2.1 Questionnaires for teachers 17 2.2.2.2 The classroom observation 17 2.2.2.3 The interview 17 2.3 Presentation of statistical results. 18 2.3.1 Questionnaire for teachers 18 2.3.1.1 Teachers’ teaching experience 18 2.3.1.2 Teachers’ CLT training background 18 2.3.1.3 Teachers’ opinions about the suitable method for their teaching English at present 18 2.3.1.4 Teachers’ background on CLT 19 2.3.1.5 Teachers’ understanding of subjects about CLT 21 2.3.1.6 CLT ’s application in the actual classroom practice 24 2.3.1.7 Evaluation of English textbook regarding in CLT application 27 2.3.1.8 Teachers’ opinions about the difficulties in the implementation of CLT in their context of language teaching 28 2.3.1.9 The degree of success in applying CLT at TCEF 29 2.3.2 Results of the class observation 30 2.3.3 Interview 34 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 36 3.1 Findings 36 3.1.1 Difficulties from students 36 3.1.2 Difficulties from teachers 36 3.1.3 Difficulties arising from the testing system 38 3.1.4 Difficulties from the teaching and learning environment 38 3.2 Recommendations 38 3.2.1 For the students 38 3.2.2 For the teachers 40 3.2.3 Reform of the current English testing system 41 3.2.4 Improving the teaching / learning environment 41 PART C: CONCLUSION 42 1 Conclusions 43 2 Limitations 44 3 Suggestions for further study REFERENCES 44 APPENDIXES I Appendix 1 Questionnaire for the teachers I Appendix 2 Lesson observation sheet VII Appendix 3 Interview questions VIII References.  Allwright, D. 1984. 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